--- title: "AI Wunderkind Leopold Aschenbrenner's Hedge Fund Surpasses Bill Ackman's: Here's What He Is Betting on" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/289086663.md" description: "Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI-focused hedge fund, Situational Awareness, has surpassed Bill Ackman's Pershing Square in assets under management, exceeding $20 billion. Backed by Jane Street and fueled by a major stake in Anthropic, the fund has seen returns of over 1,000% since its late 2024 launch. The success highlights strong investor confidence in AI infrastructure and specific tech plays, despite recent market volatility." datetime: "2026-06-08T17:15:12.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/289086663.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289086663.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/289086663.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # AI Wunderkind Leopold Aschenbrenner's Hedge Fund Surpasses Bill Ackman's: Here's What He Is Betting on **Leopold Aschenbrenner** launched his AI-focused hedge fund less than two years ago with no professional investing experience. The fund is now larger than **Bill Ackman’**s flagship Pershing Square Holdings and has Wall Street’s most profitable trading firm as a backer. Quant giant **Jane Street** has become a limited partner in **Situational Awareness**, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Jane Street rarely allocates capital to outside money managers, making the check notable. Situational Awareness now manages more than $20 billion in assets, surpassing the roughly $16 billion in Ackman’s London-listed Pershing Square Holdings. The fund is up about 270% after fees this year and over 1,000% since launching in late 2024, though it dipped in early 2025 during the China DeepSeek-driven chipmaker selloff. ## The Anthropic Bet That Powered The Run A single position in AI lab **Anthropic** accounts for roughly a fifth of the fund’s assets, the Journal reported. Situational Awareness first invested in Anthropic at a $61.5 billion valuation in February 2025. Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO on June 1, targeting a $965 billion valuation. On Polymarket, traders are pricing an 83% probability that Anthropic lists before **OpenAI**, with similar volumes seen on Kalshi. ## Retail Traders Mirror The Disclosures The trading app Autopilot, attached to the viral Nancy Pelosi stock tracker, rolled out a feature in March that lets users copy Aschenbrenner’s disclosed trades. His recently revealed stake in solar manufacturer **T1 Energy (NASDAQ:TE)** sent the stock up 23% in a single day on its second-highest trading volume ever. A May filing then showed Situational Awareness held $8.5 billion in put options, which some observers misread as a bearish bet on **Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA)** and sparked an online panic. The puts are more consistent with portfolio hedging, as 13F filings only show a partial picture of a fund’s positioning. ## Jane Street’s Broader AI Infrastructure Push The LP check is not Jane Street’s only tie to Aschenbrenner. The two firms co-led a recent venture round in AI chip startup MatX and are backing a new round for AI cloud provider Fluidstack, the Journal reported. Jane Street has been building broader AI infrastructure exposure, including a $6 billion cloud computing deal with **CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV)** in April. Situational Awareness has also profited from international plays, including an early stake in Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix from November 2024. *Image: Shutterstock* ### Related Stocks - [PS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PS.US.md) - [PSHZF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PSHZF.US.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) - [TE.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TE.US.md) - [NVDA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDA.US.md) - [TE+.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TE+.US.md) - [NVD.DE](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVD.DE.md) ## Related News & Research - [Bill Ackman Calls Anthropic Researcher's Exit 'Interesting' Amid Claims of 'Well-Funded PR Operation' Aimed at Democrats](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298543618.md) - [Has AI made S&P 500 index funds too dangerous to touch?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298444482.md) - [Thales sets out four-pillar “Trustworthy AI” ESG framework on validity, security, transparency, accountability](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298372315.md) - [Albacross-backed Green AI launches 360-degree AI factory energy audit service](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298311301.md) - [10:48 ETBackBox Introduces the Kilter Platform, Bringing Responsible AI to Network Operations](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298338286.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**